Billionaire Li Ka-Shing Backs Biocomputing Startup That Takes On AI With Lab-Grown Brain Cells

Cortical Labs, an Australian startup developing a new type of artificial intelligence that combines lab-grown human brain cells with computer chips, has raised $10 million in a funding round led by Horizons Ventures, the private investment arm of Hong Kong’s richest person, Li Ka-shing.

Blackbird Ventures, Australia’s leading venture capital fund, has also taken part in the financing round, Cortical Labs said in a statement on Wednesday. Other investors include In-Q-Tel, the venture capital arm of the Central Intelligence Agency, as well as U.S.-based LifeX Ventures and Australia-headquartered Radar Ventures, among others.

Cortical Labs said it will use the capital to commercialize its biological computer chips—human brain cells derived from stem cells that are grown on top of microelectrode arrays. Cortical Labs refers to their system as DishBrain, and says it’s capable of performing goal-directed tasks.

The Melbourne-based company said last year that its biological computer chips had already been proven to work, successfully learning how to play Atari’s tennis-like video game Pong. Cortical Labs connected DishBrain to a computer, which then sent electrical signals to the cells revealing where the bouncing ball was and how far it is from the paddle. DishBrain made its own decisions on how to move and learned to improve its performance through feedback from the electrical signals.

“The possibilities that a hybridized AI meets synthetic biology model can unlock are limitless, accelerating the possibilities of digital AI in a more powerful and more sustainable way,” Hon Weng Chong, founder and CEO of Cortical Labs, said in the statement. “Our technology will shape and drive the next frontier of AI.”

The startup said pharmaceutical companies are likely to be the first to adopt its biological computer chips for use in the testing of new drugs and therapies. However, such innovation might also raise ethical concerns, including whether it can develop consciousness.

Cortical Labs’ funding round comes as global tech behemoths are rushing to launch AI chatbots following the emergence of ChatGPT, which can generate content from basic text and image inputs.

Cortical Labs claims its DishBrain will eventually have the edge over digital AI technologies like ChatGPT because it requires less energy and is capable of growing, adapting and learning at a faster rate.

Cortical Labs was founded in 2019 by Chong, a doctor-turned-entrepreneur who previously cofounded CliniCloud, a medtech company backed by Chinese tech giant Tencent and the venture arm of Chinese insurance and banking conglomerate Ping An.